The Fate of the Mightiest Nation

Glad to see this great Art Hoppe piece from the 1970's was reprinted in Truthout...

The Mightiest Nation
By Art Hoppe
The San Francisco Chronicle

Once upon a time, there was a country that was very small and, on the whole, very good. Its citizens were proud and independent and self-reliant and generally prosperous. They believed in freedom and justice and equality. But above all, they had faith. They had faith in their religion, their leaders, their country and themselves.

And, of course, they were ambitious. Being proud of their country, they wanted to make it bigger. First, they conquered the savage tribes that hemmed them in. Then they fought innumerable wars on land and sea with foreign powers to the east and west and south. They won almost all the battles they fought and triumphed in almost all of their wars.

It took many generations, but at last the good little country was the richest, mightiest nation in the whole wide world - admired, respected, envied and feared by one and all.

"We must remain the mightiest nation," said its leaders, "so that we can insure universal peace and make everyone everyone as prosperous and decent and civilized as we are."

At first, the mightiest nation was as good as its word. It constructed highways and hygienic facilities all over the world. And for a while, it even kept the peace. But being the mightiest nation meant that its leader was the mightiest man in the world. And, naturally, he acted like it.

He surrounded himself with a palace guard of men chosen solely for their personal loyalty. He usurped the powers of the Senate, sighing treaties, waging wars and spending public funds as he saw fit.

<snip>

http://truthout.org/docs_03/041803I.shtml

It's always been a favorite essay. The comedy team of Hudson & Landry did a serious recording of it, too, which was released as a 45... (today found as an MP3?)